Microsoft expects Office 16 client and server applications to be made available in the second half of 2015; that's what ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reported following a session at Tech Ed Europe in Barcelona with Office/Office 365 Marketing GM, Julia White.
Foley also disclosed that Microsoft may be looking to launch Office for Android within weeks with Office for Mac likely to be the one next; These two releases are likely to be followed by a preview of Office 16 (or 2015) at the next big Microsoft conference (Ignite) in Chicago in May 2015.
She also reports that there will be two versions of Office, one with the classic user interface and one with a touch-first/metro-style user interface which is likely to be unveiled early next year.
One wonders however why Microsoft has been so quiet about a touch-first Office running on Windows. iOS and Android are likely to get native touch-first Office applications with the latter getting it nearly four years after Windows 8 developer preview was released.
The current version of Office, Office 2013 or Office 15, was released two years ago, in October 2012. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft plans to extend/integrate Office to the cloud as Office 365 and where Yammer, Skype and Lync will sit.
